David Lee may be out for the postseason with a torn right hip flexor, but that hasn't kept the power forward from perfect attendance at practices and meetings.

"I've been a leader of this team all year long," Lee said before Tuesday's Game 2. "Just because things aren't going well for me personally, it's still important to me to continue my role as a leader. We've had a great, breakout season, and this process doesn't start and stop with the season, so I've got to continue to be there for my guys."

There is one selfish reason for Lee's presence. He said he's been at his lowest when alone in his Denver hotel room.

"When I'm around the guys, laughing and joking and helping them prepare for the game, it brings me back to feeling like I'm still part of the action," he said.

Scrappy: Friday night's Game 3 will bring Denver coach George Karl back to Oakland, where he led the Warriors to the playoffs in his only full season with the club (1986-87). They rallied from an 0-2 deficit to win a first-round series against Utah, and "I don't know if you remember," he told nba.com, "but there was a fight after (Game 2 in Utah) between Karl Malone and Greg Ballard. We lose the game and a fight breaks out. I run on the court and a fan hits me from behind. I go running after the fan and Chris Mullin and Purvis Short just run by me and kick the (heck) out of him, take care of the fan for me. Here you go down 0-2, you walk into the locker room, maybe the hardest speech in basketball, and the speech is made for you because you just had this basic altercation. We come back and win all three games."

Second chance: Asked about rebuilding the confidence of rookie Draymond Green, who was clearly downcast after being unable to contain Andre Miller on his game-winning shot Saturday night, coach Mark Jackson used an example from Game 2 of the Clippers-Grizzlies series. Chris Paul drove past the league's best backcourt defensive player, Tony Allen, to win that game at the buzzer. "You look at Tony Allen last night, and he thinks he let down his teammates," Jackson said. "He's going to be put in that situation again, and so is Draymond. "He's a guy that works his tail off and gets back on the horse."